StorytimeWednesday

  Earlier this month I posted a piece about Character Bibles and how they should be created. Today I am going to delve into how to create a show pitch bible for any television show, or even movie script pitch. For a television show you have the original pilot then the first season of shows and onward. A movie script pitch is a little different. Right now the concept idea is in your head but you want to get it in front of a manager or agent to help you get it in front of a few producers or executives to get it to screen. So, now’s the time for you to get the story idea out of your head and onto paper. A mentor of mine once said “the story sounds great verbally, but you must put it on paper/computer screen for it to feel and be real. So, get it out of your head now.” He was right. Once I got it out of my head it took on a life of its own and ended up being both a book and a movie script. Although each of my books start out as a movie script because it’s easier to lay out the scenes and

  What is a storyboard? Why do you need it for a film? Storyboards are a huge part of the pre-production phase of making a film come alive. You don’t have to be a fancy artist or filmmaker to create a storyboard, but you do have to have a concept of the movie script to create one. You see a storyboard is a layout of each scene of the script. A storyboard is a visual of every scene in the movie. It allows the director, the camera guy, and even the actor to know what is expected in every scene. Camera angle, what the action will be in the scene, pan left, static shot, what the action will be in the scene, etc.  When you think of the movie script you can’t see the various scenes on paper, until you turn to the storyboard where the visualized scenes appear like magic. The storyboard shows the type of shot (single, close-up, far away, etc.) what the character movement will be, the camera movement will be if there is a voiceover in the shot, what the camera placement will be, the Point o

  Character Bible A character bible is a detailed document that outlines everything about a character, a detailed description of what they look like, including their background story, personality, motivations, and desires so the actor can better understand who they will be portraying in the movie or television show. Similar to a Story Bible used in TV shows like any cops and robbers show, or detective series, a character bible is essential for novelists and script writers. It serves as a reference tool, ensuring continuity and providing depth to characters, making their interactions more realistic. **Creating a Character Bible: Key Elements** 1. **Content**: Focus on the essentials—physical appearance (skin), backstory (flesh), and psychology (core). Address how characters look, their past influences, and their inner motivations. 2. **Coverage**: Include every character, not just the main ones. Even minor characters should have some background to make them feel real and contribute mean

What does a movie script look like once it’s broken down? Well when you break down a movie script you have many components so lets break them down to see what goes into a movie production. Preproduction priorities are as follows: Funding must be procured for the film first or at least enough to hire the director and camera director Hire Lawyers to protect the integrity of the film and prepare necessary contracts for actors and crew members. Hire accounting firm or use your bank firm to create billable items for taxes and proper accounting and payroll procedures for the film. Director and camera director must be hired first. You don’t have casting first off, instead you have shooting locations where the movie will be filmed to choose. This could be broken down into many filming locations based on the script scenes. Then once you have the locations chosen, You then have to decide on props to use in the shots. Historical data needs to be researched to help with costumes, character

  Film Treatment tips How to write a film treatment First, you’re asking what is a film treatment?  A treatment is a basic narrative tool that helps a screenwriter flesh out ideas and potential story scenarios that can help you also develop a good character base. What this basically means is that you create the narrative of your story first before you spend all your time writing the actual movie script. A film treatment outlines what your film will be about, the working or final title, your logline, a short story summary, and the descriptions of your main characters in the story itself. You need a film treatment to entice investors to give you the money to make your film. These investors want to know what type of movie, the genre, the story concept, and what kind of characters you want to have in your movie. Here is what they want to see in your treatment: What kind of world do you want your audience to envision. What is the structure of your storyline? What are your plot p

  The Logline A logline is a one-line description of your book, or movie script that you create in order to pitch your work to an agent or production company that might be interested in your project. Your job as a professional writer is to describe your work in a short one liner that is comprehensive and concise in a logline. This one liner describes your story or main character and the premise of your story. This is not an easy thing to do, trust me when I say this. It can take anywhere from a week to a year before you come up with that perfect one liner. So, get cracking on how they are done by doing your research of loglines for your favorite movies. Here are a few examples that I found on the internet: The Godfather : The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. Titanic: Two star-crossed lovers fall in love aboard the R.M.S. Titanic and struggle to keep their relationship afloat as the doomed ship sinks int